The Rescuers of Greenwood
by Swag Dolphin
Summary: A new exciting adventure begins for a human-turned-Pokemon. With a few friends' help, things go alright...for now. Rated M for explicit themes.
1. (1) Memory

_**Author's Note:** I don't own Pokemon or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, this story is merely for entertainment and non-profit purposes. Rated M for violence and sexual themes later on._

* * *

…

…

…

 _Uhg…_

 _W-where…am I?..._

I couldn't recall anything previous at the moment. My brain was foggy and I couldn't think straight. Something like a needle stung through the center of my already-throbbing skull. I must be dehydrated…

When I tried to move, I couldn't reach for more than a few mere inches before my hand grazed an unseen wall. Everything on my body ached, like I had been beaten several times over. It was a struggle to lift my hand when I tried to find an escape route, but I failed to do so when I realized that the place I was located was a box, preferably cardboard as I examined further. The container was only large enough for me to sit in, but nothing else. I couldn't stretch my legs or my arms all the way even If I wanted to.

When I tried to sit up, I nearly cried out in pain, but with some awkward shuffling, I managed to sit up from my once-lying form.

I had a feeling something else wasn't completely the same…about me, that is. My breathing was way too fast, though I wasn't trying to panic. Seeing how there were no ventilation holes whatsoever in the space I was provided in, I couldn't help but wonder why I was in such an enclosed and dark place. I don't tend to be claustrophobic either, but my mind was boggling with the idea that the walls were slowly closing in on me. Slowly, but surely… No, no, no…It's my imagination… right.

I tapped on the wall feverishly with my left hand, the intensity of the situation reigning down on me like an anvil. I tapped again, a bit harder this time, hoping to attract some attention from the outside. With no luck, I pounded with both of my hands, on the ceiling this time.

"H…H-hey…!" I yelled weakly. It sounded more like a whisper due to the condition of my throat. It had been like I was screaming before, and it was sore, at a previous state. Strangely enough, I couldn't remember why I was in the box in the first place. My shoulders hurt even more from trying to beat the sides of the container, so I gave up and continued to yell. "C-ca-" I coughed violently, almost throwing up. My stomach warned me that anymore physical movement could make the situation go from bad to worse. "Can anyone hear me…?"

I doubted my own words. When I had tried to push up on the ceiling of the box, I felt as though something was keeping it in place, like a very large man was sitting on the top of it.

"H-help me…!" I said, banging on the walls once again. Heavy needles spread through my shoulder as I do so. "Hey!"

I didn't want to do it anymore. After a few minutes, I felt the sting of tears meet the lids of my eyes. The dark, still air was becoming more stuffy and humid as I moved and shuffled. I pushed with my aching legs to try and pry the walls of the box apart, only to discover that the walls weren't made of normal two-ply cardboard, but a thick, rigid material used for shipping heavy loads over a long distance.

 _Am I… a package?_

The thought made me want to cry even more. I could have been some kind of piece for human trafficking, shipped to please some nasty drug dealer who kills people and makes money off of cocaine he sells.

 _Don't think like that…_ I thought, bringing my sore legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. _This isn't going to be bad…It'll work out…don't worry._

I then realized I couldn't remember anything. Nothing. Not a single thing before I woke up.

Even my name was gone. And I couldn't remember why.

About an hour goes by. There is no movement outside the box; no shaking, no vibrations, no rattling. The silence is like a bell in my ear, constantly ringing with no signs of ceasing. My face feels hot from the humid air and the wetness on my cheeks.

 _Will I die here?_ The thought crosses my mind suddenly. _It's a miracle I haven't run out of oxygen yet…_

I supposed it wouldn't be so bad if I did die the way I imagined. I mean, it could be drowning, or worse. I might feel a pain in my chest and head for a few moments, due to the body's natural need of a constant supply of oxygen. But it should be over after that, shouldn't it? Another thought crosses me reluctantly.

 _Wait…I really should have been killed a long time ago because of no air…which means…_

Somewhere there was a _leak_.

With all the strength I could muster, I leaned over to the right side of the box and pushed with my body as hard as I could, the hope somehow regaining itself in my head that I thought was long gone. At a point where the potency in my body was practically depleted, I managed to topple the box over onto its side, the impact crushing my left shoulder. After cringing for a few seconds, I turned around in the box to see that there was an opening, tiny, but visible, on one of the bottom corners where the floor was. I carefully made my way to this opening; it was no bigger than the width of my index finger. I tried to lean forward to see through the hole, and when I did, all I saw was blue and green, so I concluded that I was outside somewhere...My stomach twisted anxiously at the thought. With one hand the left-hand wall, the other peeping through the hole, I pulled with as much power as I could find, hoping to enlarge the hole enough for me to escape. Sweat trailed off of my already-sweating forehead, and landed in various spots on the ground. My muscles felt like they were about to fall off, but I didn't feel like giving up just yet. I was going to escape this cardboard prison no matter what.

"Oh, hey, look!" I froze, the voice outside gave the impression that it was about 80 meters away, but drawing nearer. "It's a box! Quick, go get Riolu!" it sounded high-pitched and feminine, although I couldn't recall any names they conversed about. Without thinking, I pulled my hand from the hole and tried my best to hide myself in the shadowed box.

"No, no! He'll just make us get rid of it or something," a deeper, but childish, voice responded. Something like feet walking through tall grass reverberated across the landscape, informing me that I didn't have much longer before the strangers got to my location. "Wait, did you guys just see that?"

The movements outside ceased momentarily, followed by whispers out of earshot. Absolutely terrified, I controlled my breathing only because I didn't want to be found by killers.

"What do you think it is?" one of the voices said, louder this time. This one was also high-pitched, but a little slower. Right now, as I counted, there were three different people outside of the box. I heard only one of them continue to draw closer, the noises of their feet resembling the shuffling of grass. "I bet it's another pokemon…"

My mouth twitched at the word. Did they just say… _pokemon?_

"Yeah right, in that thing?" the child's voice played, apparently not moving. I placed my ear on the side of the still-darkened box in which the sounds were coming from, trying to believe that these were not hostile barbarians. "There's no other pokemon for miles around, in _any_ direction. It's only _us_ in this place. And Riolu and the others."

I was very confused at why they kept talking about pokemon. The last I heard, it was just a card game or something, but at this point, I would let anything save me from this death-trap…as long as they don't kill me first.

"Well, we're never gonna know what's inside it if we don't look," the feminine voice concluded. "Ya know, it could be something awesome. Like food or something."

"Pfft, no way," said the slow voice. "If its anything, the logical explanation is that it's a pokemon and it needs help." I imagined that the other two other voices were nodding at the slow one's explanation.

"Right, yeah, that too," said the female voice again, agreeing with the slow one. "Well, let's check it out, then." They started to walk again, as I heard. I didn't know if I was being rescued or about to be killed. Based on their conversation, they do not seem hostile. But then again, they could be tricking me. I was in a box after all.

"Wait…!" I said hoarsely, loud enough for the strangers to hear. They stopped walking immediately. There was no wind outside to occupy the ear-splitting silence. My mind suddenly went blank, as I didn't know what to say to the people outside. I heard a soft rustling in the grass, as if someone were either drawing nearer or retracting.

"Is…is someone…" the childish voice called out quizzically. "…in there?"

I felt yet another glimmer of hope, and continued to assume the strangers outside were not hostile. I tried to respond again, but to my demise, my throat felt like it was ripped apart and I broke into a half-coughing, half-crying sort of fit. The pain was unbearable. I leaned onto one side of the box to keep myself upright, but it did no good. My arm slipped right from under me and I fell on the hard cardboard floor, my right shoulder erupting in a rage of soreness when it made impact. More sounds came from outside, along with concerned voices and movements of the box.

"Oh, Arceus!" someone shouted, choking on their own words. "Someone get Riolu! Hurry!"

"Yeah!" another agreed, running off into an unknown direction.

My whole body went numb once again, mind shifting like sand into yet another state of useless unconsciousness, and I drifting away into a deep, aching sleep. It didn't feel natural for me to just fall asleep like that, either, with all the commotion that was going on. Then again, nothing that went on in the last few minutes would be considered a normal thing. What would other people think in this scenario? No familiar names came to mind as the thought passed.

 _Normally, I would wait until everything got quiet, then I would rest, like on quiet Sunday afternoons after lunch. Man, sleeping back then would be considered heaven. The sheets were so soft and felt like angel feathers._

 _Why can't… I remember…my name?_ I mentally shivered at the chilling notion; bright, blurred light filled what view I still beheld, my psychological state wafting into an empty, infinite darkness.

"Are you okay…?" A figure approached me, almost kneeling at my side, their silhouette fading abruptly. I could compare their words to someone I've known for a long time who cares about me. "Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

 _Thanks._


	2. (2) Beginning

_I'm so tired, but I don't know why. I've never slept this deeply for as long as I could remember. Maybe when I was a baby I slept like this. I don't know. It hurts to remember._

 _"No matter what, I-"_

Something small and spherical was placed in my mouth, a grape maybe? Someone gently rested their hand - or I thought it was a hand – on my lower jawed and assisted me in chewing it. I help partially, perception regaining into my lying form. My eyes stung, but fortunately, I wasn't as sore as I was in the box. A figure stood over me, on my right side.

"There you go," it said softly, lifting my chin and tilting my head back. I swallowed the sweet-tasting fruit, the flavor completely new to me but still satisfying enough to make me feel better. My eyes opened sluggishly, and I absorbed the blurred scenery around me. We were still outside, a canopy of abnormally large trees shading us from the mid-afternoon sun and a gentle wind swayed the leaves and the grass. I was lying on my bare back close to the base of one of those trees, the roots under me pushing and making noticeable indents into the grassy floor. A worn, light brown blanket covered the lower-half of my body, and strangely, a small fire blazed directly in front of me. I attempted to sit up, the old aching feelings returning to my shoulders and ribs. I cried out in anguish.

"Oh, no you don't!"the figure scolded, pushing me back carefully to force me to lie down again. I was too weak to resist, so I did. It was the feminine voice from earlier. It was helping me, I think. "You just stay there, I'm gonna get another berry." The figure scampered off before I could look at it completely.

I rested there for a few minutes, the nerves regaining feeling under my numb skin. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about my body was…different. Not only that, but under the blanket, I didn't feel like I was wearing any clothes at all. My stomach twisted in a knot at the bizarre sensation.

 _What the hell...? Did she strip me naked?_ I tried moving again, lifting my right arm to experiment. I almost didn't notice it, but my arm, as I inspected, was a peculiar hue of orange. My hand, if I could explain properly without freaking out, was small and accompanied by stubby claw-tipped fingers. The skin itself seemed to be covered by minuscule scales. _Oh my God…What did she do to me…What did_ they… _? Am I a lizard or something?_

My left arm was the same way. I became dumbfounded at the idea that my human body and appendages were replaced by the body of a lizard. I moved my new body, realizing that my legs were now shorter and clawed as well. When I rustled, the fire stirred a bit. It seemed to only move when I did.

 _Oh crap…Don't tell me…_ Reluctantly, after I made sure that no one was watching, I slid the blanket off of my form, gasping and going wide-eyed. The cool air brushed across my exposed flesh, and I shivered. _Oh God, I have a tail?!_ My torso was also a hue of orange except for a patch on my stomach, which was a light tan. Between my legs sprouted a thick tail that was on fire at the end. As if that weren't enough, my mouth twitched uncontrollably and I became too scared to move, like my body would fall apart if I tried. I didn't seem real or logically possible that this could have happened to me.

"Hey, you!" the being called out, its voice muffled. Covering myself quickly, I looked towards the figure again, having no trouble seeing it, and the sanity I still had slipped right through my fingertips. "What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be resting."

It looked like a dog, I guess. With brown fur, long, pointed ears, chocolate orbs for eyes, and a fluffy white mane around its neck, anyone else might confuse it with a fox or even a large cat. It stood there in the grass, a few feet away from me, with a concerned, almost worried look on its face. I would even keep it as a pet if it weren't talking like a person. I didn't try to get up, afraid that the dog might do something rash.

I swallowed hard, unmoving, trying to make sense of what was happening. If I wasn't insane, this whole thing has to be a dream. A very _real_ dream.

It sighed as if it were frustrated with me, rolled its eyes, and then advanced towards me. I held my breath and lifted my arm in defense for a second, half-expecting it to kill me on the spot. Instead, it came to my side and dropped a small blue fruit resembling a large blueberry out of its mouth.

I looked at it, confused. It returned the look and frowned.

"Ya know, it's not polite to stare," it said, its feminine voice that sounded so human to me throwing me off again. I didn't know how to respond to such a statement. I simply turned away instead of answering. "May I ask,…who are you?...Before you go unconscious again or something." Its expression seemed sympathetic, though I couldn't tell for sure.

"Um…," I surprised myself with how different my own voice sounded; it was almost childish. I normal person could mistake me for an 8-year-old if they didn't see me first. I coughed and scratched my throat as if something was majorly wrong with it, then continued. "Urm, where…am I?"

"Greenwood," it said, gesturing with a forepaw. "A very large forest, I should say. I'm surprised you don't know, you must not be from around here."

"Oh," I looked around, trying not to strain myself too harshly.

It turned back towards me and cocked its head, raising an eyebrow.

"And you are…?" it asked.

"Oh! Um…" I started, suddenly feeling nervous. "I don't know…my name." For some reason, I felt like I made it sound as awkward and inconclusive as possible without meaning to.

"Well, I might just have to give you one," it said, smiling slightly, unmoving. The smile faded quickly after moment. "Wait, you… you aren't serious, are you?"

I didn't say anything.

"Uh, well, I'm Mosie," Mosie said, uncertain but matter-of-factly. "You can stay with us if you'd like. There's whole village with other pokemon up north were we live. It's only about a mile from here."

I suddenly realized it; I knew what I looked like, knew what I was. I've seen it before.

"I'm a…" I almost whispered, terrified yet astounded. "…a _pokemon?_ "

"Yeah," Mosie said, puzzled. "Yeah, you look like a normal charmander to me. Why?"

I gulped, a thousand thoughts racing through my all-the-more perplexed mind. I rubbed my temple and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Oh, God," I groaned, giving up on myself and life, trying to make myself believe it was all some twisted dream. I couldn't make sense of any of it, so I pinched myself mentally. Nothing added up. Nothing made sense. Nothing.

"What?" she asked. (I concluded that she was a female, based on her name and voice).

"W-what does that make you, then?" I stuttered.

"A pokemon," Mosie said, slowly. "An eevee to be precise."

"Heh," I laughed shakily at the ordeal, something like madness pulsing rapidly through my veins. "An…eevee?" I never even heard of an eevee before. I was never into pokemon nor ever cared to learn about pokemon as a human. Now, I'd wished I had some knowledge. Even a sliver would suffice. Something. "You said there were others…they're in the town?"

"Yeah," the pokemon said. "But we can't leave now. You've only rested for a few hours."

I wanted answers, but I wasn't sure if this character was the one I wanted them from. Although she was a smart-talking thing, I was afraid that she might not have any idea where I came from originally or why I was here. I supposed it couldn't hurt to ask.

"So, this is going to sound crazy, but…" I said with caution, not knowing how Mosie would react. Her ears perked up, suddenly attentive. "I'm actually a person. A…human. Do you know how I got here?"

She gave me a look like I was crazy. I didn't blame her.

"Oh, don't talk such nonsense," Mosie said, getting up. "You're still dazed from when you were in that box-thing. Here, eat this berry. Heal up." She gestured towards the blue-colored-berry in the grass next to me.

"'Heal up'?" I scoffed, a little too rudely than what I meant. "That thing was in your mouth."

"So? It's an oran berry. It won't kill you." As fast as lightning, she scooped up the fruit with a paw and shoved it in my mouth, the taste occupying it. I tried to resist at first, but seeing how fast she could move and the way she did, I didn't want to mess with her. I chewed the berry, almost instantly regaining health and feeling 10 times better. After swallowing, I grinned, not knowing why. "See?"

"Thanks," I said. Mosie nodded mechanically and returned the smile.

"Well…then," she said awkwardly, seeming accomplished, turning around walking in a random direction, and flicking her poofy, white-tipped tail. "I'll just…go this way then to, um, look for some more berries and stuff. Stay here, 'kay?"

I nodded, unsure of myself.

"Wait,…Mosie," I said. She swiftly twirled her head around, ears flopping, eyes twinkling.

"Hm?"

"Was…was that you who carried me all the way here?"

"Do I look like I carried you all the way here?" she said, referring to her own small frame. "It was actually Riolu; you can thank him once we get to the village." The name seemed familiar to me…from earlier.

"Oh,…alright…I will." She wandered off until she was out of sight, her form disappearing into the mass of tree bark and leaves. The setting sun was in my view; it settled over a snow-topped mountain range a great distance away, casting a deep crimson color over the tree leaves. I sighed deeply, covering myself once more with the worn, brown blanket, resting my now-hairless head onto the feather-like grass, and adjusting to the new anatomy of my charmander body. The grass replicated the soft material of a mattress I remember from my old life. Something about Sunday afternoons…I don't know. That was the only thing I could really recall. No names, no family, no home.

I suddenly felt heartsick for the first time since I've arrived. I missed people, humans, I couldn't even remember.

 _Could this be…_ I thought, close to tearing up. _Something like a new beginning? A start-over?_ Ironically, I didn't mean it to think of it that way. Still, what if the people who knew me _did_ miss me? Would they send a search party? Am I even in the same country? The same _world_?

Do I have a part in this? In _all_ of this?

I tried to think of something else...something present and real.

I knew that walking would be a pain, as short as my new legs were, but I supposed I could get used to it eventually. Who knows? As strange as this new land is, I could probably grow wings if I wanted to.


	3. (3) Nightmare

I had a strange dream that night. I was somewhere filled with light and meaning. A sense of passion flowed around the spot I stood…no, I wasn't standing, I was floating. A voice called out from miles away, and I turned towards the source. A looming, rugged structure erected in front of me; a mountain. Thick, fog-like haze shrouded the area around it, making it somewhat difficult to see.

 _Hey, is someone there?_ I yelled, my voice miniscule compared to the mountain. I remembered that I had turned into a charmander.

 _Yes._ The mountain said slyly, it's tone ancient and rough.

 _Where am I? Is this a dream?_

 _Hmm…_ it was thinking. For some reason, when you have dreams, everything seems to make sense, no matter how ridiculous they may be. I mean, a talking mountain? _You could say that. It's more like a vision, I guess._

 _Oh, well…can I ask you a question?_

 _Yes._

 _Are you God?_

 _No._

 _Well, I want to talk to God. He's, like, the only one who really knows how I turned into this thing._

 _Hey, God's my best friend; I'll give him the message as soon as possible._

I winced, unsure of why I was dreaming this. _Do you have any idea how I became a pokemon?_

 _There is a possibility…_ said the mountain, zoning out. I soon became impatient. _Yes, I do know…_

I perked up, listening. _Well? How, why? What for?_ There was sudden rumbling, and I felt the ground shake intensely. I keeled over, unable to stand. _What's happening!?_

 _They're coming…_ the mountain's voice was carried away, seeming hundreds of miles away. _You need to hurry…_

An unseen forced grabbed at my appendages; arms and legs held firmly in place. The sound of the ground rattling was too loud for me to hear the last words of the mountain. I struggled and fought, the figures holding tightly and shrouding me in darkness, bringing me into a crevice in the earth that opened up. In a fraction of a second, my body was dragged into the ground, too quickly for me to resist. I cried for help, the forms showing no apparent sympathy and acting mechanically. The earth sealed itself, the jagged opening closing abruptly, leaving me to scream in a space contained and silent. The grip never altered.

"Hey, Red! Wake up! Quit-"

My eyes shot open, my mind and body becoming aware of the situation. Someone _was_ holding my arms and legs. A little tight, too. Two other…ah, pokemon, I guess, along with Mosie, were gripping my arms and legs on both sides, all wielding faces of worry. I looked at them obscurely and they released suddenly, stepping back and seeming unsure of themselves.

A small pokemon on my right side with a skull for a face piped up, its voice quiet and childish. I assumed it was the same voice from when I was trapped in the box.

"Y-you were yelling," it said, tilting its head with concern and palming what looked like a bone in its hand.

"And thrashing," said the squat, pink pokemon to my left, producing a slow, intelligent sounding tone. "You were more than likely dreaming, or having a nightmare it seems."

"Yeah," finished the skull-headed pokemon. I recovered and sat up, my flame-tipped tail swooping around behind me.

"Are you okay to sit up?" asked Mosie, starting to sound like an annoying mother.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," it was true. All of my aches and pains had vanished into thin air overnight. I gave another glance at the two foreign pokemon, their bodies like statues under my gaze, and then looked at Mosie once more. "Who are these guys? What the heck is going on?"

"Oh, yes!" she said with quick ambition, rushing close to the nearest ally, which was the pink fellow. "Red, this is Fish. He's a slowpoke." Fish nodded. "Also, don't be fooled by his appearance…he's actually pretty smart for his species."

"Wait," started Fish, furrowing his eyebrows, er, whatever those were. "Are you evaluating that my species as a whole is unintelligent?"

"Am I?" said Mosie. "Aren't you the one who said that 'slowpoke aren't supposed to read books due to their incapability to comprehend reasoning and knowledge'?"

"Well, yes, but…" Fish continued, obviously running out of comebacks. "There is scientific proof that one in every 7350 slowpoke will have that capability. I was lucky because I was the first one to reach the egg, therefore I am a winner."

Mosie rolled her eyes at the predicament. I laughed under my breath, knowing full well what he meant by "egg".

I knew that pokemon could come in all shapes and sizes by now. Based on how tall I was (I figured the night before that I had shrunk when I was transformed, so I estimated based on my surroundings that I was approximately two feet tall), I assumed that Fish was about 1 and a half feet tall from his feet to the top of his head. His height was all the more stunted because he walked on all four legs. The thing I found most fascinating about him was how his pale-tipped tail came up and loomed over his head. His name also struck me as interesting and probably had some hidden meaning, but I couldn't expect human names from pokemon. Judging by this slowpoke's speech, I deduced that he was the smartest of the three.

"Hey, er, Fish…" I said, hesitant, struggling to adjust to my new voice.

"How are you?" Fish asked, nodding again.

"I'm good, I guess."

"And this…" Mosie continued, turning to the skull-headed pokemon. "Is Pip. He's a cubone. He's only level seven, so if you guys decide to battle, be…careful, otherwise his mom will through a fit." He looked bare-skinned from the neck down, if you counted the series of dark, ridged lumps that protruded from his back. The skull he was wearing seemed like it would be a mask, like I could pull it off if I really wanted. Only his baby-brown eyes, nostrils, and lower jaw were exposed. If he was smiling or blushing, I couldn't tell.

A series of new and diverse vocabulary flowed through my brain, and I became all the more desperate to ask the questions I wanted to ask last night. I turned to Mosie, since she was most familiar to me in this new world, expecting most of the answers to come from her.

"You said we're in the 'Greenwood Forest', right?" I said.

"Yeah," she said, puzzled at my sudden enthusiasm.

I stood up, my undersized knees wobbling under me. The trio watched me like I was about to topple over. Since the pain from before had disappeared, it wasn't too much of a problem; I didn't want to walk on all fours like a dog or something. It seemed analytically correct when I finally situated myself, holding my short arms out for balance. My tail, as I discovered, helped keep me from tumbling front-ways onto my face. Due to the weight of my hairless head, which was fairly large in comparison to the rest of my body, I probably would have fallen again if it weren't for the foreign appendage attached to my ass.

"Are you okay to stand up?" inquired Mosie, arriving by my side just in case.

The new sets muscles and bones that ran through my spine and into my tail felt strange yet somewhat natural. Experimenting, I wiggled it, the fire on the end swooshing back and forth, the feeling of the addition to my rear didn't seem so weird anymore at the time. I abruptly wondered why I was beginning to feel like this was normal for me, and came back to my initial question.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, her anxiousness seeming to ease away. She stayed next to me anyway, which I liked. "But I gotta ask,…where _is_ Greenwood Forest?"

The three gave each other perplexed looks, as if the answer for the simple question was more like a complex mathematical equation. Pip piped up, his voice quieter than what I thought was possible.

"Where is…" he said, rubbing his temple. The fact that creatures this smart couldn't tell me what country they lived in gave me chills. "Oh…I heard Star talk about it a little while ago…"

The new name sparked my interest, so I maintained focus on what other answers were to come next.

"Well, according to Star," Fish said, eyes closed in concentration. "We should be about 250 miles from the Kanto region. It's overseas. The passage between here and the Great Island is about 160 miles." When they conversed about this "Star", I immediately assumed they were referring to a literal star in the sky or some kind of deity.

"Are we still on Earth?" I said, hope for finding my old home disintegrating.

"Oh, definitely," he said, giving Mosie a glance. I looked at her, but she didn't say anything. "Same galaxy, same island. This island is known as the Three-Channel Island, because there are three ocean currents that encircle it in a rotating formation. Most of us call it Greenwood Island because the Greenwood forest occupies the center and east side of it."

"Kanto?" I questioned, the region seeming familiar.

"Yes," Fish continued. "Man, you must be from a million miles away. Are you sure you haven't heard of it? It's one of the larger regions on the Great Island."

"I'm not sure," I replied, looking down at my clawed feet. "Should I have heard of it?"

"You must have been hit on the head too hard," he joked, smiling wide, stubby, pointed teeth exposed. "A severe case of amnesia at its best. We'll have to take you to Aibree to get that fixed."

"Right…" I said, hesitant.

There was a pause. A small wind flew across the forest floor and canopy. The orange scales, fortunately, provided some protection from the cool breeze.

"Red, are you a charmander?" Pip squeaked, a little louder than usual. I jumped at the little guy's unexpected ambition. "Mosie said you were and I wanted to make sure you weren't a zubat in disguise."

I wanted to say I was a human, really. But something like a rock on a string tugged on me, telling me that I really _was_ a charmander. I knew this wasn't true, no matter what other pokemon told me. It was a strong feeling, however, and it was almost like instinct, if I recall. When I looked into the little guy's baby-brown eyes, my heart melted. All of the questions and wantings from the night before faded away for a moment. I found it even stranger than everything that was occurring right then. I remembered that this whole thing could be a _restart;_ an unbound, limitless life waiting to unfold, like a brand new novel begging to be cracked open and read. And out of all of the possibilities in the universe, it's _pokemon_ I have to live my life with. If my hypothesis was correct, telling Pip what I was currently shouldn't change the way these pokemon think of me right now. If I really wanted to, I could discuss the topic with one of the older pokemon, like Mosie or Fish. They would understand it more than that of a youngster like Pip.

"I…" I said with uncertainty, the eyes on me feeling like drills. "I…I am a charmander."

"Yay!" squealed Pip, waving his bone in the air above his head. "Now I don't have to beat you up!" The cubone waddled over and hugged me, his pointed skull-helmet poking the underside of my neck. I accepted his embrace in an attempt to make a quick acquaintance with him and his comrades. It seemed to work, fortunately, as the other two pokemon were smiling kindly in an aww-that's-cute kind of way. I smirked back, patting Pip on his rugged back.


	4. (4) Friend

Eventually, it became the middle of the day in the Greenwood Forest. The sun rose high in the sky, indicating that it was about noon. Its warm, subtle rays streaked the canopy of the trees, some breaking through and shining on the grassy ground. Although this occurred rarely, I still found it secretly admiring. By now, I wanted to say I was completely used to my charmander body, knowing for a fact that there were more questionable challenges yet to come.

At the time, I was relaxing; sitting on a large, flat rock close to a stream, pondering a million thoughts to myself as I watched the incredibly clear water in the creak race by. All the while, the trio of pokemon who found me was out scavenging for firewood and, strangely enough, more berries. They invited me with them, but I gave them a lame, sour excuse instead about how my head hurt and stayed back. For some reason, I felt like they really didn't want me with them at all…that they were pretending to like me just to make me feel better about myself and my crazy, weakened state while captivated inside the box.

I sighed, feeling dead and alone inside. I glanced at the creek, wondering if the water was as clean as it looked. I figured that since today was weird enough, a sip of it couldn't really do any harm. After all, pokemon are built for harsh and desperate situations, judging only by how strong I truly felt as one. My brain signals begged out for thirst, so I clambered down calmly from the stone, my blazed tail waving to and fro. Cold, black, rich mud squeezed between my toes when I hopped off onto the earth, sending unnatural chills up my spine. I marched on until I was at the water's edge, then I kneeled. The bizarre force of the stream became somewhat intimidating.

Gathering the minuscule amount of courage I still beheld, I created a cup with my diminutive hands and dipped them in briskly, the initial amount I collected seeming a bit copious but efficient. Just as I had originally thought, the water was very tasty and soothed and coated my throat like honey, which I was somewhat surprised about. Before I knew it, I had bent down to retrieve another scoop of liquid and slurp it down contentedly, and then another, and then one more, the flavor of mere water like something I haven't savored in a century.

I heard a rustling close behind me ( I don't know how I heard it; I didn't have any visible ears at the time. How do charmanders listen? I don't know). Some leaves were trampled with swift, agile movements behind my unprepared figure. At first, I thought it was Mosie, so I turned around in an attempt to foil her plots to surprise me. I was met with an entirely different character, which caught me off guard completely.

"Hmm, I see you've found a water supply," said the pokemon. Like the cubone, he stood upright on his hind legs. Except for the fact that he looked completely pissed off, I would say that he was a strong, regal pokemon. I definitely found his glaring red eyes intimidating. "I bet you're thirsty, after being in that box for such a long time."

"Oh…, yeah…," I said, trying not to make any kind of sudden movement. I wiped my mouth of any excess water that dripped there and stood hypnotized by the river. "And who are you?"

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me," the pokemon said simply, walking up towards me. I almost expected him to slap me or something, but instead he handed me another one of those blue-berry things, an Oran berry as I recall. "Well, then again, you aren't from around here, so, yeah, I guess that makes sense." His look of anger suddenly disappeared, and he started laughing gently. I hesitantly accepted the berry, unsure what to make of this guy.

"Anyways, I'm Riolu," he said plainly, smiling. "My teammates might've mentioned me earlier; I was at the village to drop off a few items. I hear that they call you… _Red_ now? That you woke up and couldn't remember your name?"

"Yeah, I woke up and couldn't remember a whole lot," I said honestly, looking at him. He seemed interested in me, so I continued. "I woke up in that box in the field, I had a flashback or a dream or something, I don't know. When I came to, Mosie was hovering over me and stuff."

Riolu brought a hand, er, paw up to his chin, considering something relevant.

"And…, your tail was out," he added, pointing numbly at the flame on my tail. I didn't know what he was talking about.

"It was… _out?_ " I questioned, glancing over my shoulder to look at it.

"Yeah. Kinda weird, to be honest, since that fire is your lifeline, more or less," he said, giving me a look. "Well, I've heard rumors, at least, that charmanders will _die_ if their tail goes out."

I didn't know whether or not to believe him¸ but he seemed to be telling the truth judging by his tone. I didn't think this dude would lie to me, anyways. He seemed legit in my book.

"They… _die?_ " I gasped, trying to act surprised. "Why would they…why do I need a fire to live?"

""Now that, I'm not so sure about. I guess you could compare it to someone, let's say, trying to live without water, except you're a fire type. It probably works both ways, to be fair," he scratched a bit of his neck that was hidden beneath a blue handkerchief. I glanced at the necktie for a moment, the patterns on the cloth resembling crossed hatched lines. It reminded me of the waves of an ocean.

Riolu noticed me staring and began walking in the direction he came from; the campsite.

"If you're done drinking, I can walk back with you," he said. I felt my stomach twist. Maybe Riolu wasn't such an intimidating guy after all.

"Oh, yeah," I almost felt obliged when he let me walk with him. He seemed like the alpha male of the group, and my original intentions were to stay away in case of trouble. He even looked strong, as small of a figure that he had. I was sure that he could handle the responsibilities of himself and others, so I decided it was ok to trust him.


	5. (5) Poison

(I'm wanting to upload a new chapter each month. Don't worry, the NSFW content is coming soon, you weirdos.)

Riolu and I stepped rhythmically in the grass of the forest, our strides billowing through it with ease. As I came into sense of the new land I was entered into, I wondered what was in store for me. Surely the pokemon I had just been acquainted with have reasons for being with me. It couldn't be a coincidence that I was found in a bone-dry box before I was about to perish. Perhaps it was the wind that told them, or the god that occupies the sky, if there really was one. I was beginning to have my doubts about the subject, about everything, for that matter.

We continued up the path for a few strained minutes, the hill taking a painful toll on my stubs for legs. I didn't understand how any pokemon could run for very long before finally tuckering out. I might have just been out of shape at the time. Riolu kept passing me anxious glances, probably cautious if I was going to make a sudden attack. He might have been scared of me behind that stern masked face of his. I didn't, of course, as that would make me the stupidest organism on the planet. The ambience of birds chirping and the breeze sliding across the grass soothed any tenseness between us.

"You enjoying yourself?" Riolu asked, gesturing a paw. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's…cool," I gasped for air, sighing in relief after reaching the top of the incline. In order to become like one of them, I had to be calm and aware of my surroundings. That was my analysis. I stopped at the mouth of the hill, holding up a hand to signal him to cease walking for a moment. Riolu gave me a look. "Hang on…that hill…was a killer…"

"'Killer'?" he raised an eyebrow, unaware of the slang term I had just used. Our eyes met; he seemed suspicious. I realized I had just remembered the term that was commonly used in my old world.

"Oh! Oh, by 'killer' I meant it was hard to climb," I reassured him, getting up and resuming our stroll back to camp.

"Right…," he mumbled, looking forward.

It was a few minutes of silence before we were able to see Mosie and the others in the distance on the forest's edge, their faded silhouettes shrouded by various shrubberies. I didn't remember walking this far, either. I must have been spaced out, or in deep thought. Maybe my legs just have minds of their own. Never before was I so intrigued by nature, or maybe I was a nature person, but I just don't recall it. I couldn't be sure. It was definitely the smell and the feeling of green all around, encasing me. I felt…warm.

I spotted on the right edge of the path a small tree, and on it, a couple of bright pink-colored, heart-shaped berries about the size of a clenched fist. Mosie did say keep an eye out for any fruit, so I approached the bush with some caution, wary if Riolu wanted to tell me otherwise.

"Hey, there are some berries here…!" I say it almost as a question, waiting to see how he would react. Riolu seemed like the kind of pokemon who would defy any kind of replacement when it came to foraging. In fact, I half expected him to push me out of the way to examine the fruits himself. His eyes went wide when he witnessed me caress one the stalks of the plant with my right hand and pick a berry off with a 'blip'.

"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed, rushing over and slapping my wrist, the berry sliding out and flinging to an area inside the trees. I rubbed my hand with the other, not sure whether to yell at him or not speak at all. "Those are poisonous! Are you crazy?" My own eyes went huge. His face showed nothing but seriousness, and I immediately began to freak out. My first day as a pokemon and I already screwed up.

"Wha-?! I-I didn't know!" I started tearing up, my face getting hot with embarrassment and fear. Riolu's sudden reaction made my mind race with emotion and worry. Everything was moving too fast, an image that was there a second was still moving with my eyes when I placed them on another object. I didn't know what to think. Or was I just overeacting…?

"Let's hurry back to the camp," he said, trying to calm me down. "Touching that pink fruit does the opposite of a pecha berry, although it looks the same as one." Riolu explained to me with a hard tone as I began to feel the outermost layer of my scaly skin burn after contact with the foreign food. I could only imagine what it would have done if I had eaten it. I could see myself sprawled on the ground, suffocating in my own saliva, throat too swollen to let air pass through. I shook off the vivid thought and ran with Riolu, my fire-tipped tail whooshing back and forth wildly. I was thankful for the damp, dew covered grasslands, and if it were any drier it could start a terrible fire. I tried to forget that thought as well. "I had a bad experience with those berries once. A friend and I had gathered a whole basketful and took them back to the village. Just before we sat down and had our evening meal, our hands and arms felt like they were on fire, and my dad said for no one to touch the fruit. He explained to everyone immediately, and I was very glad he did. He also said that less mature berries react with the skin faster than mature ones, so you got lucky. I don't think you'll need a lot of attention for that wound. It doesn't look that bad, actually. Nothing that an oran berry can't fix." He gave me a stern look as we jogged. Kind, but strong.

I didn't want to admit it, but I was eternally thankful for Riolu. The story was convincing enough. Lesson learned: don't pick up berries you don't have an idea about or you're screwed, indefinitely.

We trudged out of the tree line, leaving a portion of the woods behind us. A expansion of grassland extended in the south and southeast, the amount of light green eventually meeting with the light blue and creating a seal known as the horizon. The blinding sun was still high in the sky, the clouds passing by lazily like a stone being eroded by a steady river. A single mass of white would pass between the sun and the world, casting a ridiculously large shadow over the field and Greenwood Forest. The mountains in the distance loomed precariously, their cloud-shaded sides creating an eerie sense of mystery. I wanted to ask Riolu about them, but a sudden itch on my buzzing hand subsided the request. I scratched and picked at the reddened flesh, bubbles of puss oozing on the surface. I gagged, not realizing that some side effects were included.

"Uh, Riolu, is this supposed to look like this?" I say shakily, offering him my right hand. He doesn't flinch when he glances at it.

"You'll be fine," he assures me, smirking. "The first time is always the worst, trust me. Your body becomes resistant to it if you touch it a lot, that's one of the upsides. That burn will disappear like nothing happened if you squeeze oran or sitrus berry juice onto it."

I decided to trust him.

Mosie, Pip, and Fish were busy packing their belonging into satchels and a little backpack, presumably belonging to Riolu judging by how he was the only one he could carry it. Mosie spotted us as Riolu and I shifted through the grass towards the tree with low-hanging branches.

"Oh, hey guys," she exclaimed from a few meters away, waving a brown furred paw in our direction, letting go of the corner on a frayed blanket. She gasped and scooped it up again in her mouth, moving alongside of the sheet to complete the fold that was interrupted. She let out a satisfied sigh, grasping the folded cloth in her muzzle with canine teeth and shoved it into the backpack with her nose. Afterwards, she met up with us midway, carrying the rucksack in her closed jaws and politely handing it off to Riolu. "You're back. Alive and well. You holding up, Red?" Mosie smiled at me, looking at my pained expression and then the hand I was clutching. "Oh my goodness! What happened to your hand?! Did you burn yourself?"

I wasn't sure if I could burn myself…with heat, I mean. You would think the fire on my tail would do more damage, but I guess it was just pokemon logic. Riolu spoke for me.

"No, he touched one of those pink berries. Not a pecha, but, you know," he looked at her sternly. She nodded anxiously, her worry easing away. "Could you go get an oran berry, please?"

"Yes, hang on a second…," she ran back to where Pip was standing, who was oblivious to what was going on, and picked a round oran berry from one the satchel's pockets on the ground. Mosie rushed back, a curious Pip in pursuit, and dropped the blue fruit into Riolu's paw, where he mashed it with his digits. The sticky fluid dripped between his paw pads and oozed onto the grass. I wondered then if the substance would hurt more if it was applied to sin, but I supposed it was too late to reject it, as the pokemon gingerly grasped my right hand and smothered it all over. The partially transparent liquid coated the entirety of my hand, cooling off the burn with ice-like fingers until it felt like my hand was submerged in a bucket of freezing cold water. I hypothesized that the berry had antibiotic solutions in it as Mosie and Riolu watched carefully.

Pip wandered beside me, scanning the scene with adolescent eyes and then my jelly covered hand.

"What's that, Red?" Pip said quietly, pointing up at my appendage. The oran berry, after a few seconds, changed into a new, darker color, and what was left of the substance dripped off onto the ground as if it were oil. Pip seemed astounded and gasped, looking at my scarred hand. "What the-?! What happened to your hand?" The pain from the poisonous berry was no longer there, nor the cooling oran berry, but what was left was some sort of reddish scab all over the surface. I touched with the other hand, even rubbed it, but it didn't hurt. I was astonished.

Riolu slung the backpack over his shoulder and patted my back reassuringly.

"An oran berry can't do everything," he said blankly, smirking. I looked at him, then at Mosie. "That'll heal in a few days, don't worry about it."

"Thank you," I said to him as he walked off to talk to Fish. I smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages. He responded with a simple hand gesture without turning towards me. "Really, Riolu, you…you saved me. If it weren't for you and Mosie, I-"

"Don't mention it," Mosie replied, giving me a courteous look and winking before returning to her leather satchel to finish packing up. Pip waddled over to meet up with Riolu and Fish after becoming bored. He waved me goodbye and I waved back. "You would've lived even if we _didn't_ help you, but hey, that's what we do. That's why we help others." She said it with a confident tone, the first time I've heard her say something like that since I've met her. But then, I did just meet her yesterday. She flicked her tail and blinked, smiling, her radiant attitude growing contagious. "Do you think you could help me out? With the rest of the packing?" She gestured towards the remaining sheets on the grassy floor by the base of the tree, which I assumed belonged to the rest of the gang.

I nodded, walking with her over to assist with whatever she wanted done.

"Sure, I don't have anything better to do," I say. "Again, thanks."

"Don't mention-."

"No, I mean with me in that box," I continue, smiling, and bend over to retrieve a few of the sheets on the grass by the trunk of the tree. Mosie looked at me with a surprised face, eyebrows raised. "I still don't believe I am the way I am. It doesn't feel weird anymore to be a pokemon. Like, the other day was…I don't know. I can't really compare that sensation of numbness and ache to anything. It's gone now…thank God. But you guys, you all…" I was slurring words together, letting them slip out carelessly.

Mosie laughed a soft laugh. She was confused, I could tell by her forced expression.

"Again with the human thing?" She said with a grin, obviously thinking I was joking with her. I didn't know how to tell her without thinking I was kidding. I kneeled over onto some grass close to a sheet and grabbed two corners, pulling them together before taking the other side's and doing the same. "I can tell you're not from here, it's evident. Perhaps you were raised differently than us back at Agro, I get that. I have to tell you, if you decide to come back with us to the village, which, we're taking you anyways because you're injured, you cannot go waltzing around telling everyone you're a human. It's a rule."

"Why not?" I believed in what I believed, there was absolutely no doubt that I was human. It was like there was a chest of everything I lived for in my old life was just tucked away in the center of my head, but I needed a key, or perhaps an opening, to unlock those memories. So far, almost none have seemed to appear in the past two days. Should I be scared? Mosie suddenly gave an uncomfortable gesture, her head sinking into her shoulders and back tensing.

"Well, they…it's hard to explain," she managed to say, her smile fading, looking off into the grasslands that stretched for miles to the south. There was a pause. "Let's say, they did us some wrong a long time ago, before my generation. I think even before my mother's generation."

Mosie gave me a look of despair. Woe. I'm not sure if there was a way to define this eevee's brown-furred face. It wasn't a positive look, that's for sure.

"That's all I can tell you right now," she spoke finally.

I felt kind of secluded from Mosie for a moment, but there were reasons for her actions and emotions. And at last, there was a secret. Something that, in my mind, will uncover itself soon enough. All secrets do. I surprised myself by deciding to drop the topic entirely and save it for another time. I don't want to fight right now, especially with Mosie.

"It's fine," I say coolly, shrugging. I'm sure my weird meter was going up a meter for her every second I speak.

"Yeah," she gives me another precarious look, but the smile returns. "Are you done with that sheet? I can take it if you want."

"Yep, here ya go," I grasp the neatly folded cloth and place it in her gaping mouth, little teeth exposed until it was shut. I watched her move back to the bag, duck her head, and shove the cloth into the satchel before buttoning the front flap with careful paws. "You're, uh, handy with that, huh?"

"Mm-hmm," Mosie responded, walking slowly towards me with the bag in-mouth. It was abruptly pushed into my hand. I was confused as to why she handed it to me, so I glanced at the leather satchel, and then her. She rolled her eyes. "Well, Riolu carried his bag _and_ this one down here from Agro. I figured since you're with us, you could give us a hand, because…I don't have any."She rushed away towards the rest of the group near the inside of the forest before I could reject her offer.

Mosie, I concluded, was an interesting character. By me saying that, I cannot tell if she was completely serious all the time nor humorous. I like this trait about her the most. She knew when to be responsible but let go at times. Riolu, ah, I'm not sure. I'm positive I'll get more time with him. Perhaps we could be good friends, despite his rigid attitude, along with the rest of the crew.

I swung the bag over my right shoulder, the feeling of its cool, brown strap somewhat satisfying to hold. The actual satchel itself met perfectly with my left hip. It was weathered and had a few miniscule holes, but it felt sturdy and well built. I was confident that it wouldn't determinate while I was managing the weight of a few blankets.

"Hey, Red!" a young Pip beckoned from afar, his tiny hands waving in my direction. I broke out of my trance I waved back with a smile. "We're gonna go!" Fish and the others all gazed my way, telling me without words that I should tag along.

"I'm coming!" I yell back, their forms waiting. I look up at the tree I originally woke up as a charmander under. So much was blocked between this world and my old one, but was there really? Familiar questions zoomed back in from a while ago, beckoning me to decipher the foreign mysteries that kept me from understanding my past. There was one that stuck out like a sore thumb, er, a sore _hand_ , in my case: What was that memory involving afternoons? The dream with the mountain? How? Why? I didn't know. The low swaying branches were so close to the ground, I could almost touch them and the brilliantly green leaves that accompanied them.

"Red! You okay?" Riolu called. I looked at them again before slowly walking away from the trunk of the tree. I wanted to caress its bark, but my legs were carrying me away.

"Yeah. I'm good," I say it with a fake smile, glancing at the tree one more time. I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I'd see it. Catching up with the others, I follow Fish, Pip, Mosie, and Riolu, to wherever they were heading. It was north, I think. Deeper into the Greenwood Forest. "I'm good…"


	6. (6) Forest

It seemed like night was closing in the more we walked into the woods, but it was just the growing clusters of leafy branches blocking out any rays of sun that wanted to break through and touch the forest's floor. Not a speck shone through, but the ambience of warmth and subtle humidity kept the place feeling alive and welcoming. I had no fear with the rest of my pokemon companions. A clean dirt-packed path was a mixture of winding and straight walkways that sometimes branched off into directions periodically. I guessed that if I traveled these paths alone, I wouldn't find my way back easily even if I wanted to.

Mosie led the pack with an almost proud smile that didn't show signs of fading anytime soon. In pursuit was Fish and Pip, who conversed about something relevant but out of earshot. Riolu and I stayed a bit back as he told me various facts and rules about the town and land.

"This road we're walking on is as old as the island itself," he said matter-of-factly, occasionally gazing into the forest's edge. Overgrown grass and weeds took the road's sides, making it difficult to see what was hiding behind them, if there was anything. "At least, that's what my father told me."

"Really?" I say it with fake interest, feeling the side of the satchel with a careful left hand, fingering one of the metal buttons that kept a smaller pocket closed. It was a bit rusted and rough and felt like it was handmade. "Uh…, how do you guys find your way around here…? If you don't mind me asking…"

Riolu laughed a little, reaching with both of his paws behind his neck to tighten his blue handkerchief. I sniffed, waving at a bunch of fuzz that flew into my face.

"You say it like we've been here forever, which, _some_ of us have," he said it in a jokingly kind of way. "You may find later that this island is larger than you may think. And mysterious."

He turns his head and gives me the most devious look. "And _dangerous_." I eye him for a moment before he turned back to face forward. "We have a map."

"Can I see it?" I ask out of curiosity, wanting to know how big this place really is, and if there was a way out if necessary. Riolu looks at me, then his backpack, and finally shakes his head.

"I'm afraid it's buried deep in my rucksack," he gave me a lame excuse. I wasn't one to argue. "When we get back to Agrotin, you can have a look. We have to keep our eyes peeled for enemies or anyone who may try to hurt us." He swiveled his head in both directions, constantly checking the sides of the road and the tree line.

"Okay…," I said, adjusting the strap on my own satchel. I spot the tunnel-like canopy above us as we walk, only flecks of blue, radiant sky peaking through dense leaves and branches. It was similar to a cave, the way the scenery surrounded the path. The ongoing green of the shrubbery and the brown form the path were really the only exceptions. The humidity was awfully uncomfortable for all of us, I could tell by their expressions and the way they talked to each other.

I take a moment to evaluate something while we were walking as a whole: why were they camped by the forest's edge in the first place? There are obviously hundreds of answers to this question, but no one ever bothered to come up to me and explain to me why. I felt that familiar ping of isolation and longing. Still, answers I have yet to uncover. And so many, too.

Just as I was about to ask Mosie something I had on my mind, Pip waddled back a few steps and decided to traverse next to me. He looked at me with squinting eyes, gesturing his bone to me.

"Here, I want you to look at it!" Pip said. I took it and investigated it carefully. It was a real bone.

"Where did you find this?" I ask him, he smiles cutely, almost tripping over a rock. I was about to reach out and catch him, but he recovered instantaneously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he says, patting his skull-shaped head covering. "Is it cool or what?"

"The bone?" I run my non-scabbed hand over it, feeling how smooth and aged it is. Only one of the ends had rounded joints, I guessed it was a femur or maybe a calf of either an animal or some sort of pokemon. The other end was worn to a stubby point that formed the handle. It was definitely too dull to pierce anything. "Who gave this to you?"

"My ma did," he said, quickly snatching it back. "It was my birthday present."

"Really?" I say, surprised. "Well, it's a cool present."

He grins enough to show some teeth, then scampers off to the lead of the party where he walks close to Mosie. I chuckle at how close the resemblance is between him and a human child.

"Seems like you've already made a friend," Riolu said.

"Yeah," I agree, adjusting the strap once more. I was actually staring to get hot, although my tail was enflamed basically all the time. How does charmander anatomy work? I have yet to discover these things, as the beings around me clearly have no clue. Perhaps the town we were visiting might have some answers in store.

"That bone was his real mother's, and his grandpa's before that," Riolu added, keeping his gaze forward for once.

"Huh? His real mother's?"

"You can keep a secret, right? At least from him," he asked, swiping his brow with a paw.

"Uhm…," I already had a feeling what this was going to be about. I knew I could keep a secret, though. I wasn't a tattletale as a human, that I could definitely remember. However, another thing that came into mind was if it was my place to intrude on someone else's business. Sure, I could qualify these creatures as non-harmful, but would it be out of line if I knew something that someone else didn't? Whatever Riolu wanted to tell me, it must've been important and relevant. He was an important figure, at least to me. "Yes."

"Pip is an orphan," Riolu said, leaning in towards me and lowering his voice. "He doesn't have any real parents."

"I know what orphan means," I say, trying to be quiet as well. I didn't know how well Pip's hearing was. "But, wasn't he just talking about his 'ma'?"

"That's not his real mother. That's, well, she's kinda like his foster parent. She looks after him."

"Does she look like him?" I add, wondering what type of species Pip was, or if that was the name of his species. I'm pretty sure Mosie said it before, but I just couldn't recall. From what I remember, pokemon say their names as a way of communication. Everything else about them was fuzzy.

"No. She's not a cubone or a marowak. She's an older kangaskhan who runs the local bank depot," Riolu informs me. The names are unfamiliar.

"And a kangaskhan is…?" I start to ask. He gives me a strange look as if I were deranged. He crosses his arms and touches his chin with a digit, his mind in deep thought.

"I don't know how you could describe her…," Riolu ponders for a moment. "Well, they're big and bulky and got a lot of tough skin. They also got a pouch in the front of their belly for when they got kids of their own. I've seen Pip in hers once or twice, but he's outgrown it now for sure."

"She's taller?"

"Oh, yeah. Taller than both you and me combined. She's nice, though, and makes the best poffin cakes."

"What are 'poffin cakes'?" I could tell that he was starting to become annoyed from all of the questions. One more couldn't hurt.

"You take a berry, NOT like the ones you touched earlier, and mash 'em up, then add a bunch of other ingredients. Then you bake them for a few minutes, and then you eat them," he motioned his paws while he was talking in a slow fashion so I may understand them easier. I may be unknowing, but I am not stupid.

"Okay, I get it," I say sarcastically, laughing and beginning to understand the concept of pokemon food. At least _some_ of it was similar to a person's diet. He sighed.

"Another important tip you'll want to know when we get to the village, is that you _never_ , under _any_ circumstances, leave the village without me or another group leader. It's one of many rules" Riolu went back to his serious mode. I swear he was a skitzo.

"Why, what's so scary about outside this village?" I ask, tilting my head. "I mean, we're outside now, and nothing bad has happened to us or you or Mosie."

"Don't let the scenery deceive you. Beyond the tree line is a whole 'nother world of pain. You leave, and it's a death wish." Everyone in the front went awfully quiet while he was chatting. I was surprised how no one was stepping in to recognize how harsh Riolu's words were; maybe they were just used to his ranting. I let most of it roll over me. "I'm not even joking. It was about two months ago when a couple of buneary and their older sister wandered off away from the school yard. We sent out a rescue team almost an hour after they went missing and looked for days."

The whole idea of drama being created inside of a fiction-based world somewhat amused me.

Obviously, when people go missing, it's kinda a big deal. I think it happened a lot from where I was from. But…where I'm at now, in this world,…I don't know. Seriously, how terrible can things be around here if they have to form search parties?

"Well, you found them, right?"

"Yes, we did. If their bodies weren't intact, we might not have been able to carry them back to Agrotin for a proper funeral."

My heart sank several inches into my little chest. Someone, no several…were dead? How? Why? I was curious if he was being truthful.

"You aren't for real…," I said it hoping that he was kidding. Like it was all some sort of prank the group was playing on me. Or was it just him trying to scare me because I'm new?

"They were long gone," He said, expressionless, as if the whole experience wouldn't have fazed him for a second. "I'm sorry if I'm going down on you too hard, but things like this happen…way too often. That's why the founder decided to form rescue team; just for that reason. You never know when a pokemon friend is in trouble and needs assistance."

"You are joking, right?" I question him again, now beginning to scan the forest's edge as Riolu was doing a few minutes ago. The shaded trunks of the distanced trees looked like looming creatures ready to eat any little being that happened to walk passed.

"No, I'm not," Riolu admitted finally, giving me a painful look. "You shouldn't have to worry though. It was your luck that your distress note was posted onto the bulletin board, otherwise…well, let's just say you wouldn't be with us now. But, now that you _are_ with us, you have nothing to be afraid of."

I decided I had enough of all of the new vocabulary. I grab onto his arm, forcing him to stop moving and pay attention to me. The others kept on going for a moment.

"Riolu, please, I'm so confused," I say it out of the other's earshot in a plea-like tone. "I don't know what you mean by 'distress note' and 'marowak' and any other crap you're saying. I-I woke up as a charmander two days ago! I don't even know why the hell I have a freaking tail or why it's on fire!"

"What are you saying…?"

"I'm saying I'm a person, a human!" I half scream it at his face. Mosie noticed us stopping and signaled Fish and Pip to hold on for a minute. I glance at them with tear-jerked eyes, not caring if they're listening. "I'm not…no, I _know_ I am not a pokemon! I don't want to be one, either. You've got to help me change back!"

I grasp his warm, blue-furred shoulders with both my hands. I look up at him, trying my best not to burst out into a crying fit. He isn't much taller than me.

"Why?" Riolu asked simply.

" _Why?_ " I repeat the question, my voice breaking. "Because...it's the right thing to do! That's what you guys do, right? The right thing? If you _really_ care for me, you could help me…That's what friends do!"

He looks at his comrades with a sympathetic expression, obviously unknowing on the whole human-turned-pokemon situation. I stand there, holding him, my stubby, clawed feet dirty from the path, my right hand, swollen from contact with that poisonous plant. And the other three? They probably think I'm crazy. Still…I don't blame them.

"…If you want my opinion on the situation," the slowpoke said. I don't turn to face him, I was that upset. "I've concluded that it's physically improbable for Red to be human. I've discussed the topic with Mosie, and she agrees. Unless you came from a completely different dimension or maybe a further universe, there is no way that a human or any known pokemon has the power to transform into a pokemon. The only closest organism that comes to mind that can do such a thing is a ditto, but those aren't habitable on the island." Pip and Mosie looked at him and then me skeptically. I was starting to question my life and why it was even existent.

"Hold on, Fish. He may have a point," Mosie piped up, moving swiftly next to me. "Look, I'm sorry Red, if, you know, I wasn't taking you seriously back there at the camp. I thought you really were pulling my leg. I just didn't want you to go ranting about humans at the village because, well, it _is_ a rule."

I don't say anything.

"Anyways," she continued. "What you're saying does not sound too far from the stories old Aibree used to tell us when we were little. Something about people and transformation. I didn't believe it when you said it because it all sounded all too similar."

"Oh, yeah!" Pip shouted in realization. "Those were the best. I bet Ma would let me take you there sometime, Red!"

"The whole idea might not be physically possible, but who says it's a physical thing? It could be spiritual or mental for all we know," Mosie says.

"I don't discuss about the idealistic beliefs of believers and whatnot," Fish interrupted. "This is a real thing that is happening right before us. Don't you all see the charmander? Look, I'm slapping his face!"

"That's okay if you don't agree, Fish," Mosie laughed. "Riolu, can you help make a promise with me?"

"Sure," Riolu said.

"It is our duty to help those in need. You said it yourself. Do you promise, that no matter what, we as a team are going to find a solution to Red's problem?" The eevee appeared confident and proud to be a part of this whole rescue group. Riolu gazes my way and nods solemnly.

"It's a promise," he states. I smile, wiping my irritated eyes.

"Me too! I promise, too!" Pip squeals, waving his bone all over the place. Fish gives me one last stare with his huge eyes and nods as well.

"There! It's settled!" Mosie nods satisfyingly and turns towards me once more. "Red, or whatever you wish to be called, we, the Rescuers of Greenwood, promise as one to help you turn back to what you once were, whether it be human or…something! As tribute to the Regional Agrotin Rescuers Association, and…I don't know the other codes of conduct. I gotta study those some more… "

"Yeah," Riolu agreed, crossing his arms disapprovingly. Fish and Pip snicker to themselves.

I reflect for a moment. What I once thought was a bunch of lousy, self-driven, unmoving creatures that these pokemon seemed to be, was in all actuality a group of agreeable, highly intelligent beings with a drive for assisting those who need it the most. I felt the way I feel now when I was discovered inside a dark corridor that was the box. Recalling that terrible nightmare was a pain in itself. And to think, I was willing to _die_.

I'm glad I didn't let myself fade.

"You guys can still call me Red," I say, looking down at my body, which had a similar hue. They all yelled hooray before we began the regular walking cycle down the dirt path again. "It works. I don't remember my old name, anyhow." I was hoping this new Aibree character I was hearing about so often was as good with memories as Fish was saying.


	7. (7) Clearing

There was an old saying, "If there is a light, there must also be darkness. Where they meet is most determined by the intent of one's choices." Where I've heard this saying, I have no clue, but it came to me at the most precarious moment while we were strolling through the foliage. I was walking closer to Mosie than Riolu because, at the time, he was too occupied inspecting the tree line. It was good to see a character that is strong and reliable when it comes to a group's safety. It was after about two hours of total walking that we all felt like we hit the limit, especially Fish, who has to deal with his face in the dirt all of the time. During that time, the path was an extensive tunnel driven through a lush forest that the group and the so-called village title the "Greenwood Forest". Any evidence of wood that was the same hue as the leaves was far from my eyesight at the time.

I was still curious at the whole ordeal, although I was far from adjusted to it. At any moment, I felt like I would wake up in those memorable white sheets I dreamed so deeply about. I tensed while I was walking sometimes, expecting that jolting shock of awakening from a strange dream. The feeling never came, of course, no matter how hard I thought about it. The final decision was made; I was going to be a pokemon, or more specifically, a charmander, for a period of time until I get fixed. Mosie described what seemed to be a physic that lives in Agrotin that possessed the power to transform objects before a being's very eyes. At this point, I was willing to believe anything. Literally anything.

My foot came down hard on a lone stick in the path. The crunch broke the silence and caused some rustling and flapping in the canopies above us. Large creatures with feathered wings lifted their silhouettes and drifted off into the blue sky. Nobody bothered to take a look as edgy as they were.

"Are those birds?" I asked, pointing upwards. Mosie was quick to respond.

"Yes, but more specifically, those are starly," she said smiling radiantly, glad to help me out with my pokemon knowledge handicap. "They like to live in flocks above the forest floor to avoid predators."

"So…those are pokemon birds?" I say, wincing at some of the sun's rays that shone through.

"Well, yeah, you aren't going to find anything that's living and isn't a pokemon, really," she says honestly, looking around at some of the falling green leaves. Bits of water fell as the branches shook, coating me with a cool layer of moisture. I shivered as the wind grazed the nape of my neck.

"What do you mean?" I question, brushing off a few droplets off of my shoulder and head.

There was a moment of silence. The eevee was clearly in thought.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain, actually," she said, flushing, her ears drooping in embarrassment. I wondered why she said something that she couldn't back up. It was very unlike her. "Uh, Fish, you want to help me out here?

The slowpoke scoffed and raised his nose in the air.

"By saying that, you're assuming that trees and grass can hold a conversation with you," he snapped. "Obviously not! There are plenty of organisms that aren't pokemon. All kinds of plant, fungi,…humans." He gave me a glare, mocking what I said earlier. "Honestly, Mosie. Think before you speak."

"Well, _excuuuse_ me for not poking my face into so many novels every day, but I actually have responsibilities in the village and, in my personal opinion, the library is not exactly on the top of my list for things to do during the day."

"Let's not get off topic, here," Fish said, sighing. "Red, just so you know, a world filled to the brim with pokemon isn't necessarily _full_ of pokemon."

I didn't know what to say to that. Were they trying to be confusing?

"There are other beings, of course," he stated simply, taking a deep breath. "We aren't alone, in other words. Once we get to the library, you'll understand."

"Oh,…alright," I said. So now there's a library? How big is this place? Goodness, the more they say, the more I get left off at some sort of dead end that leaves me to believe it's all pointless…I suppose I'll keep going with the flow to see where the widening stream of thoughts dumps into. A flock of the starly flapped and cried their own names as they flew off. Their fat bodies contrasted greatly with the cloud-painted sky. The sun was still high and it stung to stare at it directly.

I noticed the amount of trees blocking the atmosphere begin to disperse greatly as we walked a bit more. Several meters of winding dirt path eventually broke into a…a clearing! After what seemed like years, we could finally see the horizon over the immense line of green in the distance.

It was like a giant crack down the center of the woods; it went on for miles in either direction. The thing that scared me the most was the sheer slate-gray cliff face we could see on the other side of the drop. There was a patch of dirt that led up from the tree line to the rickety wooden bridge and cut of where a couple of poles stood and supported it with ancient rope. The whole set up appeared to be very worn and used. Some of the platforms going across the two supporting ropes were missing which didn't make me feel any braver. I would have guessed that the bridge was roughly 50 meters long.

"Well, here's the bridge," Mosie said simply. "Be careful crossing it, it's really old."

I nodded and followed carefully behind everyone up to the entrance of the bridge, pushing my satchel closer to the left side of my body to ensure that it didn't catch on any loose boards. In a single file, all of the pokemon companions gathered onto the contraption. Luckily, it wasn't too windy or we would have all been blown off. I was glad that the temperature was starting to drop, too, but it could have been the updraft from the wide, rushing river at the bottom of the cliff. Pip was the last to step up and begin his journey along the bridge. He turned and saw that I wasn't in pursuit.

"Red! Hey, Red!" the cubone said. I looked up after staring down at the foot of the rock face for a second. "Don't look down."

"I'll try," I say, bringing a smile to my face and losing it quickly. I tried to forget that it was an old walkway and grasped onto a rope on my right side, my eyes set forward on Pip's lumpy back. "I'll try…"

The first step is always the easiest for anyone, in my opinion. It doesn't bend under your weight that much, well, it didn't do that much bending at all because everyone was already on it. It was curved at an odd angle compared to the dirt ground because of weathering and whatnot. I put one little foot down whilst hanging onto the rope and applied pressure. It didn't buckle, so I guessed it was ok for the rest of my mass. Riolu's probably a tad heavier than me, and if it worked for him, it would undoubtedly work for me. My foot reached for the second step; by the time I was there, the group was already halfway across. My stomach jumped at the sudden thought of the bridge snapping dead in the middle and I couldn't help but to glance downwards. Gasping at the depth, I was reluctant to just jump back onto solid ground.

"You can do it, Red!" Pip turned around and called back to me. I probably looked like I just saw a ghost as pale as my face felt. "I believe in you!"

He believes in me…

I probed my brain for a second and tried to set aside the fact that I was suspended a hundred feet in the air. It isn't so bad, really. I convinced myself to walk across without a second thought. It worked for a few steps until my foot slipped on the dust-covered board and I had to clamber to hold on to the frayed rope. The other four were already set across and done with crossing the damn thing, and I was stuck not even a fourth of the way. I could tell they were swapping irresolute looks without me glancing up.

"Can you get over?" Mosie called from afar. I was starting to get angry with myself for being so clumsy. Not only that, but I wanted to make a better impression of myself in front of them so they don't always view me as a weak individual. "Do you need us to come-"

"I'm fine!" I say back with a furrowed brow. A drop of sweat collected and fell to the depths below as I attempted to hoist myself upright once more. The satchel full of sheets and berries added to the burden. I reminded my mind that if I wanted to look the part, I had to be strong, both mentally and physically.

"Oh, alright…," I heard her words trail off into a whisper until they were barely audible. Riolu was talking to her in a low voice that I couldn't pick up, so I trudged on. If Pip believes in me, then I can do it for sure. I know I can. Step after creaking step, I slowly conquered the wooden overpass that was stretched over the raging stream down below. It wasn't painful, but it was terrifying. Probably the most frightening thing to happen yet as a pokemon. The confidence built up when I saw that in no way the boards were going to bust under me, so I traversed over more a lot quicker than the last half. Before I knew it, I was at the other side. The dirt path finally met with the last squeaky board, and boy, was it comforting to feel solid ground. My small feet praised the earth by feeling its tickle on bare skin.

"You made it! Yay!" Pip squealed and hugged me in response to seeing that I was safe. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and took a few deep breaths, the reactions on Riolu's and Fish' resembling something of a disappointing surprise party. Mosie was happy to see I was alright and smiled.

"Yeah, I made it. That was…scary at first, but I made it across!" I said proudly, hugging Pip back, and glad to be relieved of that terror. Riolu scoffed a laugh and patted my shoulder with a crooked grin, obviously amazed that I made it across without physical reassurance.

"Took you long enough," Fish hissed quietly.

"I'm glad you made it over ok," Mosie said honestly, ignoring Fish and looking me in the eye. The growing breeze caused the bridge to creak and sway gently. "And to think, the wind could've just scooped you up and tossed you in the River Blue in an instant!"

"Ehh, I'd rather than not have happened, if you don't mind," I could see that she was excited again.

"I know. I'm just saying that I'm happy it didn't," she gave me an awkward grin and winked.

Riolu gestured right after that episode for everyone to keep moving in to the forest. The tunneling trees continued almost as if the bridge was never an obstacle; like we had never crossed it in the first place. Now that I think of it, it was almost like we never did cross it, the way the rest of the woods stretched on like that.

After maybe five minutes of walking I asked to see the map that Riolu supposedly had, but he said that I would see it soon enough. Once I asked again a little later, he sighed and responded:

"You know what, I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again. _After_ we get to the village, you're going to have a really good look at it."

"Really?" I say.

"Well, I can already tell you're interested in joining the Rescue Team. I know just by the way you talk to us and when you shouted on that bridge," Riolu gave me a precarious look like he knew something I didn't. Which, by me being _me_ , I probably didn't.

"Wha…, what are you talking about? I never-," I tried to defy this once he said it just to make it sound like I never thought of such a thing.

"You can say what you want to now, but give it a minute, and you'll see the benefits of helping others. I don't have any doubt that you have the drive and determination to become strong, I knew that right away when you crossed the bridge, which is why I think you would be great in it."

I was astounded by how observant Riolu was. Still, there were some things I had to find in myself if I really wanted to join this so-called "Rescue Team". It wouldn't be a bad thing, for sure, to be a part of this pokemon community project or whatever, but it also sounded like a lot of responsibility, too. I mean, what _did_ happen that there needed to be a team? I'm not saying that I wouldn't want to join, I was bedazzled by the idea. But the reason behind it is what I was more worried about. The whole mystery in the wake of this…it was weird and awkward for me to just jump into it, you know?

"Of course," Riolu continued, rubbing his chin with a paw. He kneaded his backpack strap with the other vacant one. "You need serious training…"

"Training?" I questioned.

"Well, yeah. Don't you know any moves?"

Moves? I wasn't sure what he meant.

"Do you mean fighting moves?" I asked, raising my fist.

"Well, yes…In a sense. Every pokemon has a set of attacks it learns as it grows in strength. I, for your information, am a fighting type, meaning that learn a lot of fighting-type moves."

"Wait, types?" Riolu slapped his face with a paw and shook his head.

"Damn, you really don't know anything…," he swore for the first time. For a minute, I didn't think that any pokemon could swear, but I guess they did it just like people did. "I suppose you should start with the basics. I tell 'em to you right now. Here's what you gotta know:"

I made sure I was close to him to hear everything he said as we walked. He told me a lot. Things about typing; how every pokemon has a specific type that can be taken advantage of in battle depending on the opponent. And for battling, you have a certain number of hit points that tracks how close you are from being defeated. Stats mark how high you are in a category of power, such as attack and defense, special attack and special defense, speed and hit points. Every stat is crucial to the outcome of a battle, Riolu explains. There was something else about items that can help with fighting, but I forgot it. Powerful moves that types match your type are boosted in strength, so I would need to learn fire-type moves somehow.

"But how do I learn moves?" I ask, adjusting the strap on my shoulder.

"You 'level up'," he says, lifting his hands and nodding. "It's what happens when you get enough experience points. You get EXP by battling and winning."

"So, if I wanted to go out and beat someone up, I would get points?" Fish looks at me with a insightful eye. "And then I could learn some new moves?"

"Well, yeah," Riolu shrugs. "I mean, you could in a sense. But don't ask to battle anyone in Agrotin. It's not a very nice, welcoming notion."

"I see," I ponder, wondering again on how these village peoples would be. I hoped they were as friendly as my companions. Maybe they could help me change back.

"You probably know some moves already but you don't know it," Mosie added after a bit of silence from the rest of the gang. "I don't know. Riolu, what level do you think he is?"

"I'm not sure…," he said. I felt a lump in my throat inch its way up. "Well, if you say you don't know how to fight, I would assume Red's anywhere between one and five, really."

"Is it good if I'm five?" I inquire with a bit of fluttery feelings in my stomach.

"Of course, that means you have some experience," he said suggestively, smirking. " _Do_ you have experience?"

"…No…," I say after searching my empty brain. I hated the fact that everything was gone, and I knew for a fact that something _was_ there at some point, it was a matter of why that sparked my interest. I guessed that was why I was with Riolu and the others.

"Then it's settled, you are a level one," Riolu finished, patting me on the back and laughing. I sulked, guessing that it wasn't a proud title. "You might as well be hatched yesterday!"

"Hatched? You mean born yesterday?"

He stuttered and caught himself before he said anything else. "Eh, I'll explain that later." The others snickered.

It was then that the whole mood changed. The trail was twisting and winding like it was for the last hour and everyone appeared to be completed worn out. That is until there was one last turn and it was a straight away. Pip got excited suddenly and bolted to what seemed to be another clearing ahead. I prayed that it wasn't a bridge or something but kept moving. I knew that it was familiar to them, I mean, who knows how many countless times they've walked on this one trail to the campsite they had set up a few miles back. The bright sunlight contrasting from the forest's edge made me shield my eyes. It must have been evening at the time because it seems like the sun was funneling through the trees like it was lower in the sky.

"The village is just up here, Red," Mosie said, nodding towards the mouth of the woods. I cracked a smile, hopeful and enthusiastic like my furred friend. Except…it wasn't like her where she's probably spent her whole life there in this place. I felt genuinely curious to where these pokemon live and I wondered if there was a variety of others or if they were the same species as my pals here. I believed that the only way to find out was to see for myself.

"Agrotin," I word as I half-jogged and attempted to catch up with Pip, leaving Riolu, Fish, and Mosie behind to follow us. A final warm, welcoming breeze strolled over my hide and I broke into the clearing. The view was…astounding. When they said village, they really meant it.

A cloud-speckled blue horizon painted most of the scene. We were standing on the top of a gentle knoll that eased into the site of several brightly-hued buildings a couple hundred meters down. The path snaked through tall grass and eventually met with a tall structure that represented a gate. Tiny specks walked about between these buildings; I assumed they were pokemon civilians, but I wasn't sure. It still seemed pretty far, but from this distance, it was nothing but impressive.

When I sniffed, it wasn't like the humid aroma of grassland or forest…it was laced with saltiness. I realized with a second look that the part of the canvas that I first thought was the sky was actually a huge ocean. It stretched farther than the eye could reach in both directions. My breath was stolen instantly, and I had to blink several times to process what I was currently viewing.

"It's…," I whispered. Pip looked up at me from my side as the others strolled up from behind. "…beautiful." When I was trapped in that box, I was fixed that I wouldn't see another beautiful thing again…but here I am now, staring at one of the most precious things imaginable: the ocean, the horizon, and what seemed to be a thriving civilization. I let a tear fall from my eye.

"Are you sad, Red?" inquires Pip. I quickly swipe a digit over my cheek and sniff.

"Wha-! No, it's just really…," I stammer. They're watching me, I know it.

"Pretty," the cubone adds, looking out with squinty eyes. He skips on down the path like the happiest little pokemon he was. I gulped down a sob.

"C'mon," Mosie says gently as Riolu and Fish surpass me. "We're almost there."

"Okay," I said, trucking along with her. She was nice to me, and I'm glad she was. I mean, Riolu and Pip were good to me, but Mosie really had that sort of caring aura. You know, that _feeling_ you get when you're with a compassionate other. I'm not sure what it was, but it was relieving.

"I think you're going to do great here," Mosie says while we stroll down the path. Everyone else was already far ahead. "Once summer's over, we all get to go back to school. That's be fun. You'll make some friends for sure."

"You guys have _school_?" I say. "What's there to learn?"

"You'd be surprised. Most of the teachings come directly from the books in the library, and there's still so much we're unaware of. At school, like Riolu said earlier, you have to learn about battling, history of battles, items, etcetera, and the history of the island and its founders. That's an important one."

So I guess there's a lot to learn.

"So all you guys go to school? You're not too old?"

"Yep. Well, except for Fish, he's stationed at the library. You go to school until you've either graduated or you've found a proper job."

The whole thing sounded pretty legit in my book. If there's a school, then it must be a pretty situated town. I wondered if there was a sort of government that funded these facilities here on this island or if it was all community funded. Then I thought, if it was funded at all, then is there a currency? Was there a market or an economy? All of the answers, as we approached Agrotin, would come sooner or later.

The dirt path transformed into an ancient brick walkway that formed the main street of the village. I have to admit, being introduced to a whole new culture, no, a whole _world_ filled with different faces, different beings altogether would be mind wracking to even the most sophisticated persons. The first thing I noticed once we entered the general vicinity of the pokemon village was, of course, the pokemon. They truly came in all shapes and sizes. Some were large and tall while others no bigger than a foot, and the colors ranged between everything on the rainbow. Some with pointed spines like what Pip had on his back, others spurting flames from theirs, some wearing shells, some providing hides fit for certain terrain; it was incredible that there was so much variety in these creatures. I must've really underestimated the whole thing as a person…how can anyone pass up how much was going on in this world? It's amazing!

"Look, momma!" a smaller pokemon said to their mother. "It's the Rescue Team!"

"Who's that with them?" Another stranger said.

"He's a charmander?"

"He's the one they rescued," there was a lot of excited talk on the street, not that there wasn't when we first entered, but there seemed to be a sort of gossip that went around when we walked. I don't know if it was a norm or what, but I did know that word would spread quickly since there was a new pokemon in town. Everyone near us would back up to give us room although a majority were much taller and older. Respect was one thing the team had on their side, both for themselves and others.

My group walked through like it was nothing down the semi-crowded street. It was wide for a reason. Single-story shops lined the sides and were all managed by various pokemon. They seemed busy and were happily helping approaching customers with ear-to-ear smiles. One shop that caught my interest was what looked like a market. Items and food hang over the counter; the pokemon managing this store looked like a white badger with a jagged red line across his left ear tuft and face. I became flustered when some on the pokemon on the street, mostly the younger ones, began looking at me and whispering, some even pointed if I wasn't looking. That would be me too if I saw someone new appear in my hometown, so I didn't call them out. A large majority of them also lacked clothing, though I assumed it was normal since my comrades also didn't wear clothes. The only exceptions were some of the business owners who often wore aprons.

The buildings, especially the store fronts, were painted white with exposed wooden support beams. As we continued walking, we came to a large stone fountain. I thought it was the center of town because it was a sort of meeting point where several streets met and spread out from there. The buildings around the square were two stories and were kind of like a wall the way they were set up. There were gaps where the streets and the structures met the road below and had no choice but to cut itself off. I liked how it was made in the middle of a round sort of layout, that way it could be convenient for someone to hop off from one road to the other through the square if they were in a hurry. When the five of us got there, we were immediately greeted by a stout blue turtle-looking fellow and two of his friends. They approached and immediately shook hands with Riolu.

"Oh my! You're back already, Riolu?!" he said with in a timid tone, obviously glad he returned but outwardly nervous to talk. His friends all wore the same expressions as if they were all copies of him. "Did the rescue go okay? I heard from rumors it was all the way out near Misty Village!" He looked at the crew and then me. "Ah-ha! So it did go as planned? That's good to hear!"

Riolu laughed coldly with a straight face, clearly annoyed but polite enough to keep his cool.

"Yeah, it went alright," Riolu explained. "We only went as far south as the grasslands near the main camp but not really beyond that. I would guess that as advisors of the vice-mayor you could get some of the facts right." The advisor frowned and scratched his arm in embarrassment.

"Yes, yes…," he admitted, flustered. "Well, who's the new-comer? Is he staying with us?"

"This is Red," Riolu said, unmoving. "We came back fine, that's all that matters. If you don't mind, we have to stop by the bank." He started walking forwards passed the advisors, uninterested in what they have to say. We followed behind him in quick pursuit, finding his attitude towards them rather rude. I guessed that they put up act every time he came back with the team on a good mission because not even Mosie was reminding him to be polite. By the looks of her, she seemed like she would rather be somewhere else, too.

"Oh, I see…eh, well, congratulations on the successful mission, we hope to hear from you again soon!" He left from the spot by the fountain and continued strolling with his buddies down the same way we came.

"That was Jon and his minions, Willis and Dale," Riolu said to me in a low voice, shaking his head. "They're all squirtle and work for the vice mayor. If they start talking, they won't stop. I recommend you stay away from them if I were you."

I nodded, taking note and adding their names to the list of who to stay away from. "You said there's a bank? Where?"

"It's just up ahead," Riolu said, pointing through the crowd of short pokemon. My eyes were literally everywhere and on everything, so I would be trying to listen but absorb as much of the area as I could simultaneously. The place was a lot more active and loud than the woods.

The bank stood apart from the other buildings around it. Instead of a plain white finish, the walls were a light blue. A worn sign that had a picture of a safe etched onto it hung over the exposed wooden counter. Behind the counter was a huge lady. Or rather, a pokemon lady. She stood there for a moment until she saw us come around close. From afar, her skin was dark and lumpy, similar to Pip's, but she was missing a skull. I mean, you _could_ say that Pip was her child by mass because he was just about the right size to be qualified as one, but they looked too different appearance-wise. I know now that younger pokemon share similar traits to their parents.

"Momma!" Pip called, rushing towards the bank eagerly with open arms. Confused, I looked at Riolu and Mosie.

"Momma?" I say, but then it came back to me. Was this the mother of the cubone that they were talking about earlier? "Oh, that's a kangaskhan, right?"

"Yep," Mosie said, watching them join together as mother and son. Pip's mom lifted her child up with ease and gave him a huge kiss in the cheek. He uttered an "Ew!" but didn't resist a hug. Afterwards, she gently placed him in her…pouch? where Pip fit snuggly. "In case you haven't noticed already, Rinda is also the local banker and handles our items for future missions; anything from poké, to berries, to reviver seeds. A handy place, and I'm grateful she's here for us."

The kangaskhan smiled radiantly and blushed a little.

"Thank you, Mosie," Rinda said, nodding. I had to look up to her from in front of the counter as if she were a huge structure. "I'm glad you help out with the town so much. Really, without you young ones, we wouldn't be able to do as much as we can now."

"It is our duty, ma'am," Riolu spoke, clasping a paw over his chest and straightening his back. "Doing things that are right is a necessity, and the world needs it. That's why we're here for Agrotin and its citizens."

Hearing Riolu talk so boldly gives me chills. It wasn't bad that he was, and in fact, I've never seen anyone act with such superiority and reason. It's almost like…he was destined to be a leader. I may just be talking nonsense, but I could almost feel it. It was like…an aura, whenever I was around him. Was that the same feeling I got while I was on the bridge? I wasn't sure. That was more of a spur-of-the-moment scenario, anyways.

"Oh, Riolu, you're just like you're father," Rinda cooed. "Which, I'm sure I just saw him walk back to your house a few minutes ago. I think he just got back from the Higher Building."

"Yeah, it's about that time," he said, looking at the sun. It was a few hours away from setting.

Mosie coughed.

"We have a few items we want to put in storage, ma'am," Riolu said in a serious tone. The bank must be a pretty important deal. Either that or it was just Riolu.

"Absolutely," Rinda said, happy to be of service. Pip relaxed in her pouch and gnawed on his bone. "What do ya need to put away?"

Riolu took off his backpack after several hours of trekking and set it on the counter, taking out various objects and placing them in front of her. Berries, some sort of coinage, large seeds, technical devices. Countless items. I wondered how he fit so much into the damn thing.

"That's it, we'll be using some of those next time, though," he pointed at the seed-shaped things. I guessed they were reviver seeds, based on what Mosie said earlier. "Thanks." He nodded toward the kangaskhan and stepped back a few paces.

"Any time," she said, taking the items one at a time and fixing them to a safe under the counter. "Mosie, Fish? Do you have anything you need to deposit?"

The both shook their heads.

"Okay, then how about you," Rinda's eyes went to me. They were deep red-brown. "Oh! Excuse me, dear. I've never met you before! Are you the fellow these brave souls rescued?"

My face went really hot for some reason when I finally was banned under her gaze. Something about her made me feel defenseless and exposed, like she could read my thoughts. That was ridiculous, of course. Maybe it was her motherly nature; the ability to read through lies and bring out what's true. Then again, why would you ever lie to someone who emits such a caring vibe?

"Yeah,…I'm, uh, Red," I say meekly. She beamed warmly and I felt a ping in my chest. Seeing that face…it was an emotion that felt awfully familiar. I was speechless once I saw her beautiful smile.

"Red, huh? Are you staying with Riolu or Mosie, then? If not, I have an extra room in my home."

"He's staying with me," Riolu butted in. Mosie was about to object, but she decided against it.

"That's amazing! I'm glad you could come and visit for a while, Red. I really liked meeting you," Rinda waved us off as the group moved without another word.

The team, except for Pip who had to have dinner, trudged on down the street until we hit a house that was supposedly Riolu's. All of the homes in the area looked alike except for maybe some outdoor décor or different window shades. The sun was starting to get low enough for some lights to come on inside the range of houses. Pokemon were hustling to have dinner with their families and friends while we stood outside the white front door. The other three decided they would have a meeting tomorrow morning and discuss what would be going on throughout the day. Most of these activities included helping me in some way, which I was glad to hear. Until then, we would all have a decent meal and a good night's rest, as Riolu put it.

"We'll see you in the morning, Red and Riolu!" Mosie turned and called out whilst walking towards her own home down the road. Fish traversed with her closely. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" I called back, waving as Riolu opened the huge wooden door. He hushed me and I quieted down immediately.

"So, Red," he started, pausing before completely opening the door. "You're going to eat dinner with us, right?"

"Yeah, I'm starving," it was true. The last time I ate was early that morning at the campsite.

"Well, that means that you're going to meet my dad."


End file.
